The news comes from Variety, who report that screenwriter Akiva Goldsman had recently delivered a new draft for first film in the ambitious three-film and two limited-run TV-show franchise. The problem for Universal was supposedly money, which is why Producer/Director Ron Howard and company had to move the project to WB, and it's likely the budget was the hang up here as well. Imagine, Howard's production company, have suggested that they might take it to another studio, but after two studios passed, it's more likely that 'The Dark Tower' will be dead for a while - at least until Warner Brother's planned versions of 'The Stand' and 'It' hit theaters.

The biggest hurdle may have been 'Cowboys and Aliens,' which also mixed the western genre with science fiction and fantasy elements and proved to be one of last summer's bigger disappointments. The other fiscal problem is that Westerns generally don't play as well outside of America. Fans have long hoped that the books would eventually wind up at HBO, which could still happen at this point.

UPDATE: It looks like Media Rights Capital may jump in to pick up it, according to Deadline. Obviously, we'll be following this.